Watching the reports of the fires in Gatlinburg earlier this week reminded me of a devastating wildfire I witnessed 25 years ago.

Wildfires were not uncommon in California when I lived there in the 1980s and 1990s. It is a big state and the fires always seemed to be happening someplace else. It never really occurred to me that such devastation could ever touch my life.

Thanksgiving provides us an opportunity to give thanks for what we have.

All around Roane County during the past few weeks, I saw great examples of people and organizations giving thanks and helping others.

With Thanksgiving in the rearview mirror it’s now time to look toward the Christmas holidays. A lot of events are planned to celebrate the winter holidays, including the Christmas parades in Kingston, Harriman Rockwood and Oliver Springs.

Thanksgiving provides us an opportunity to give thanks for what we have.

All around Roane County during the past few weeks, I saw great examples of people and organizations giving thanks and helping others.

With Thanksgiving in the rearview mirror it’s now time to look toward the Christmas holidays. A lot of events are planned to celebrate the winter holidays, including the Christmas parades in Kingston, Harriman Rockwood and Oliver Springs.

Since the November election, mixed signals and contradictory messages from our president-elect have bewildered Americans of almost every political persuasion.

For a few more weeks, we should all take a deep breath and recall that the lame-duck period between election and inauguration days is a longstanding feature of our uniquely American system of government that has often roused anxieties.

Gentle reader, the quadrennial presidential election is finally over, and barring some catastrophe, Donald J. Trump will take the oath, and enter upon the office of our president come 20 January, 2017.

The Nov. 8 election is drawing near. In fact with early voting starting next Wednesday, the election is practically underway. I heard a report just this week that the temperature of the election has reached such a fever that there might be enough votes cast during early voting to decide the presidential election in some states.

Last week, two respected polls projected that the votes of as many as 40 percent of Tennesseans will not count in the coming presidential election.

Some readers may assume that recent bombshells about the Republican presidential nominee must have overshadowed such shocking news. Others will see this as proof that our elections are indeed “rigged.”